Stress Tests

When I started writing this post I couldn't decide whether to talk about the No Child Left Behind Act or the stupidity of standardized tests in general. But administrations come and go and standarized tests are a constant. So here goes:

Standarized tests, standarized tests, and... more standarized tests. They have become the single most important method of judging school preformance and getting into college. More and more of the time teachers spend in the classroom is given over to "standarized test prep" and a whole industry has popped up making books for these tests.

I think we need to go back and look at what the purpose of public education is. It is (I swear I'm not making this up) to educate. To teach our kids so that they will be better prepared to compete in a global economy. And what are we teaching them? How to fill in little bubbles with a #2 pencil (if your pencil is not #2, please raise your hand and i will provide you with one). This is hurting our children and our future. Stop the tests and stop the stress.